Raul (Alaina)
Raul Toro Mata de Santa (27 July, 1824 - 29 July, 1899), or simply Raul, was an Alainan politician and the fourth and final emperor of the Alainan Union. He began ruling the country in 1834 after his father's death, when he was only 9 years old, and until the demise of the country in the 1899 Civil War. Raul was born in Los Cielos to his father, Emperor Francisco, and mother Luisa. His younger brother, Gabriel, was born on 3 November, 1828. Raul was raised to be an optimist and was taught to believe in his country and people. When his father died of alcohol poisoning on 31 December, 1833, Raul was given the throne and he succeeded to it on New Years Day, 1834. When Alaina fell into a civil war in Summer of 1899, Raul desperately tried to fend off the rebel fighters. During an assault on the royal palace, Raul was accidentally shot by one of his own snipers. Raul died instantly. His son, who would have been the successor, was captured and imprisoned. Raul was 75 years old, and was also the oldest Alainan Emperor. Time as Emperor Due to his young age and inexperience, his time as Emperor between 1834 and 1840 was mostly overseen by his father's advisors. His young age meant that most his time was spent playing with his mother and relaxing in comfort. When he turned 15, he was given responsibility of the throne and began his true reign. His first act as Emperor happened in 1843, when he revised the currency system, and added a new gold coin to the Córo. In the time period between 1843 and 1879, life had gotten somewhat better under Raul's reign; the economy had risen much higher and the Labor Class had access to more supplies like food, water, and better shelter. Raul worked to make sure his country would thrive. Meanwhile in South America, Chile and Bolivia had begun engaging in conflict over territory. Bolivia had owned a strip of land connecting to the Pacific Ocean, which was now controlled by Chile. In 1879, Emperor Raul sent a couple of diplomats to talk about an alliance with Bolivia. They returned earlier than expected, and informed Raul that they had angrily refused. Shortly afterwards, Raul sent diplomats to Chile. Chile was pleased and accepted the offer. With the help of an ally, Raul declared war in 1882 and prepared his troops for a full on northern assault of Bolivia. His largest target was La Pez, the capital city of Bolivia. It had a large share of poor people who Raul believed he could capture and enforce a sort of "impressment" on them by placing them into Alaina's Labor Class. His assault began on May 19 and ended five months later once Bolivia surrendered. Alaina had taken three quarters of Bolivian territory, including La Pez. Over a course of three weeks, Raul ordered his troops to round up all peasants, vagrants, and criminals and sent them to work for his Labor Class. In 1884, Raul decided to expand his military power and lowered the joining age down to a staggering ten. The conscription was concurrently lowered to a mere 14, which was where some boys hadn’t even entered puberty yet. After receiving a letter from the United States and words from his advisors, Raul abolished slavery on 9 May, 1885. Despite the popularity of this, Raul had become 61 years old and was growing increasingly unusual. It is believed he suffered some sort of dementia, amnesia, or even Alzheimer’s. In a fit of confusion, Raul ordered a huge stock of bolt-action rifles from Europe, despite the fact that his army was very capable of making their own. Three years later in 1889, underground groups began to form in Alaina with the mission to overthrow the 200-year socialist reign and replace it with a democratic republic. It was at this time that Raul increased his police force and began arresting more people similar to his father's reign of terror 80 years prior. At the beginning of 1892, Raul had entered a fit of madness and sent multiple telegrams to his generals to burn down all the cities they passed through. The generals knew that Raul was crazy and responded with a faux - they pretended to raze the cities, but in reality, they did training a dozen miles away from Los Cielos. Raul never found out and thanked his generals unwittingly. In 1894, Raul received a letter from Grover Cleveland, the President of the United States. In the letter, Cleveland voiced his concern for the unclean and inhuman conditions in Alainan prisons, neighborhoods, and camps - to the point where Cleveland warned that he would consider sending a naval fleet if the conditions did not improve. Raul responded back with an apology, but he stubbornly refused to do anything while his senility began to worsen. Death By the beginning of 1899, the country had erupted into a full-blown civil war - as each week passed by, the rebels gained more manpower and more territory as they neared Los Cielos. On his 75th birthday, Raul fell into yet another confused spell and began to order his men to retire to their chambers, despite the fact that 10,000 rebels were less than 10 miles from the palace. When his generals refused, Raul shot one of his own men before falling asleep in his dinner chair. On July 29, The rebellion crushed the palace gates and stormed ahead. Raul had gone out to his balcony in the west wing of the palace and watched from relative safety. However, one of his own snipers, a man named Antonio Gonzalez Sr., was stationed on the east wing shooting at rebels from above. Raul suddenly had an urge to jump up and run inside. In the commotion, Antonio mistakenly took Raul for a rebel and aimed his Mauser M93 at Raul, before pulling the trigger. Raul was struck in the left temple and died instantly, his body collapsing over the railing. Antonio had no idea it was Raul until he was captured by the rebels. During his interrogation, Antonio claimed he had shot a man on the balcony. The rebels revealed that he had, in fact, shot Raul, causing Antonio to feel a deep sense of regret. Antonio was released, and he moved to the United States in 1900 before he eventually died in a gunfight in 1911. Legacy Raul is viewed as being the least strict/most lenient of Alaina's four emperors, although others believe he was the most intolerant due to his deteriorating mental health. His young self is viewed as an opportunist, and a man who wanted to make Alaina as great as possible. His older, senile self is viewed as a crazed lunatic who was misguided by his ambitions in the 1882 war against Bolivia. Category:Alainan Union Category:Person Category:Emperor Category:Countries created by FreddyOfAxes Category:South America Category:Americas Category:Male